Chargeback: how to get your money back for a card purchase

What a chargeback is and how it works

A chargeback is a procedure in which the bank that issued your card disputes a payment and claims the money back from the seller's bank. The rules are set by the payment systems: Visa, Mastercard, and for cards of Ukraine's national system PROSTIR, its own dispute procedure approved by the National Bank.

Five parties take part, but your role is limited to the first step and the evidence:

1. You file a claim with your bank disputing the transaction and attach documents.
2. Your bank (the issuer) checks whether there are grounds under the payment system's rules and, if so, opens a dispute.
3. The payment system passes the claim to the seller's bank.
4. The seller's bank (the acquirer) debits the disputed amount from the merchant's account or asks the merchant to respond.
5. The seller can agree and refund the money or contest the claim with proof that the goods were delivered or the service provided. The banks then exchange arguments, and as a last resort the payment system's arbitration decides.

A chargeback is no way to «cancel» any purchase you like. It protects you when the seller did not keep their side of the deal or when a technical error occurred. That is why the bank will always ask what exactly went wrong and whether you tried to settle it with the seller.

When a chargeback works

Payment systems have a list of dispute grounds, each with its own code. These matter most to buyers.

A separate case is a charge you did not make: fraudsters got your card details or access to your banking app. A different mechanism applies here: Ukraine's Law on Payment Services requires the bank to refund a transaction you did not authorise unless the bank proves you were at fault. The steps are set out in our article money stolen from your card. Technically the bank may use a chargeback here too, but what matters for you is to block the card quickly and file a claim.

When a chargeback will not help

• A card-to-card or IBAN transfer. Such a payment counts as a transfer to a person, so there are no grounds for a dispute under the payment systems' rules. That is exactly why marketplace fraudsters ask you to «just send it to my card». Such money can only be recovered through the police and the courts, as we explain in the article on OLX and marketplace scams.
• You got exactly what you ordered but changed your mind. The seller broke no rules here, so the ordinary return of goods under consumer protection law applies. The bank will ask you to go to the shop first.
• A purchase made from your device with a saved card and confirmation. For the bank this is your transaction, even if your child tapped the button. What to do in that case is explained in the article your child spent money in a game or app.
• The deadline has passed. After the payment system's time limit, the bank will not accept the claim even if you are right.
• Deposits to dubious platforms. Money paid into a «broker» or «investment» website is extremely hard to dispute: formally, the «top-up» service was provided. There is a chance if the site turned out to be fake and you acted fast, but no guarantee.
• Cash. A chargeback is only possible for cashless card payments.

Deadlines: 120 days and how to count them

Under Visa and Mastercard rules, the standard deadline for a cardholder is 120 calendar days. The starting date depends on the ground:

• for most disputes, from the transaction processing date;
• if goods or services were not received, from the last day you were due to receive them, but no later than 540 days from the payment date (a Visa rule);
• if the goods are defective or not as described, from the day you received them.

Two practical caveats. First, your bank may set a shorter deadline for customer claims in its terms of service than the payment system allows, because it needs time to prepare the dispute. Look for it in your bank's card terms. Second, the process is slow. If the seller contests, the exchange between banks takes weeks, and with arbitration, months. So file the claim as soon as it is clear the seller will not keep their promise. Waiting until the last day is risky.

Demand the money from the seller first

The bank will almost always ask whether you contacted the seller. Payment systems expect the buyer to try to resolve the issue directly first, and for some grounds they explicitly require waiting for the merchant's response. So the first step is a written complaint.

If the seller is Ukrainian, the Consumer Protection Law is on your side. You can withdraw from a distance contract (a purchase online or by phone) within 14 days, and the seller must refund the money no later than 30 days after being notified. If paid goods were not delivered, you have the right to demand the prepayment back. The new Consumer Protection Law No. 3153-IX has been passed but will take effect only after martial law ends: some deadlines and rules will change then.

Send the complaint so that it leaves a trail: to the shop's official email, through the website form with a copy to yourself, or in a support chat with a screenshot. A refusal or a few days of silence from the seller is already evidence for the bank.

How to file a claim with your bank

1. Find the transaction in your statement and note the date, amount, currency and merchant name as your bank shows them. The name on the statement often differs from the website's name.
2. Collect evidence from the table above: orders, receipts, messages, photos, tracking, proof of cancellation.
3. File the claim through the app (in many banks this is a «Dispute transaction» option or the support chat), at a branch or in writing. Describe what happened in chronological order and attach the documents. Note the reference number.
4. Answer the bank's requests. If the seller contests, the bank may ask for more explanations. A missed response deadline is the most common reason for losing a well-founded dispute.
5. Do not reorder the same thing or agree a partial refund with the seller in parallel without telling the bank: if the money comes twice, the extra amount will be taken back.

While the dispute is under way, you can use your card as usual. But if the seller itself is suspect, for example the website turned out to be fake and you entered your card details there, block the card and order a replacement.

If the bank or the seller refuses

The seller has the right to contest a chargeback by providing tracking with a delivery signature, a service login history or subscription cancellation terms. Your bank then decides whether to continue the dispute. If you have counter-arguments (the parcel went to someone else's address, the goods are counterfeit, the subscription was cancelled before the charge), pass them to the bank as soon as possible.

If the dispute reaches the payment system's arbitration, the decision is final, and the losing side may bear extra costs. Check your bank's fees to see whether a charge for the customer applies at this stage.

If the bank refused even to open a dispute and did not explain why, demand a written answer with the reason. You can then complain to the National Bank of Ukraine through the complaint form on the NBU website or the contact centre on 0 800 505 240 (free), attaching your claim, the bank's reply and the evidence. Claims against the seller itself can be brought in court regardless of the chargeback, and for a Ukrainian seller also in a complaint to the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.

Special cases

Flights, tours, hotels

When the carrier or tour operator cancels a flight or tour, ask them for a refund first: many have their own procedure and deadlines. Visa's rules for travel agencies and tour operators explicitly say the bank must wait 30 days from the cancellation date before opening a dispute, so the seller has time to refund the money. If the company went bankrupt or vanished, a dispute is possible within 120 days of the date the service was due. Before accepting a voucher instead of money, read its terms: once you have accepted a voucher, disputing the payment through the bank becomes harder.

Returning goods by post

If you sent back defective goods and the money never came, keep the postage receipt and the tracking that confirms the seller received the parcel. The bank needs proof that the goods are with the seller. Without it, a «refund not received» dispute is easy to lose.

Free trials and subscriptions

Services often give a free week and then charge every month. If you did not cancel in time, a chargeback for the first paid charge usually will not help: you agreed to the terms. But every charge after a confirmed cancellation is grounds for a dispute. To avoid having to prove it to the bank, use a separate virtual card for subscriptions that you can simply block.

Purchases through marketplaces

If you paid by card through the marketplace itself (the site's checkout, a «safe deal»), use its buyer protection first: open a dispute in your account. The bank will take into account that you went through this route. If a marketplace seller offered to «pay directly» by transfer to a card, there is no protection left from either the platform or the bank.

Purchases in foreign currency

If you paid in dollars or euros, the amount is usually refunded in the transaction currency, and the bank credits it to a hryvnia card at the exchange rate on the refund date. After a few weeks or months the rate may move either way, so the hryvnia refund may not match the amount debited. A chargeback does not cover the exchange rate difference. The bank usually does not refund the conversion fee on the purchase either: check your bank's fees.

How to pay so the money can be recovered if something goes wrong

• Pay by card on the seller's website. A transfer to a «manager's» card cannot be disputed. Only a card payment to a merchant gives you the right to a chargeback.
• Use a separate card for online shopping with a small balance and a limit. If the details are stolen, losses stay limited.
• Keep confirmations: the order email, a screenshot of the product page with its description and price, the delivery and return terms. A month later the page may change or disappear.
• Cancel subscriptions in writing and keep the confirmation. For free trials, set a reminder a day before the first paid charge.
• Check your statement at least once a month: the sooner you spot an extra charge, the longer your window to dispute it.

In short

• A chargeback is a dispute of a card payment through your bank when the seller did not deliver the goods or service, overcharged you or did not refund the money.
• The standard deadline under Visa and Mastercard rules is 120 days: from the transaction date or from the day you were due to receive the goods. Your bank may have a shorter deadline, so do not delay.
• Card-to-card transfers, purchases you confirmed and then regretted, and missed deadlines cannot be recovered through a chargeback.
• First a written complaint to the seller, then a claim with the bank backed by evidence. Answer the bank's requests on time.
• If the bank refuses without explanation: ask for a written answer, complain to the NBU, sue the seller.

Sources

1. Visa - dispute rules FAQ: 120 calendar days for condition 13.1 «merchandise or services not received» from the expected date, no more than 540 days from the transaction
2. Visa - updates to dispute rules: issuers wait 30 days after cancellation for travel agencies and tour operators; merchant insolvency - 120 days from the expected service date
3. Redo - chargeback time limits at Visa and Mastercard: 120 calendar days as the standard cardholder limit, citing Visa Core Rules 2026
4. National Bank of Ukraine - procedure for resolving disputed transactions in the national payment system PROSTIR (in Ukrainian)
5. Law of Ukraine «On Consumer Protection», Article 13: the right to withdraw from a distance contract within 14 days (text on urst.com.ua) (in Ukrainian)
6. Donetsk Court of Appeal, case No. 235/1462/17 - applying Articles 12 and 13 of the Consumer Protection Law: 14 days to withdraw and a refund within 30 days (in Ukrainian)
7. Law of Ukraine «On Payment Services», Article 52: refunds for payments initiated by the payee (text on protocol.ua) (in Ukrainian)
8. LIGA:ZAKON - NBU guidance on consumer complaints; NBU contact centre 0 800 505 240 (in Ukrainian)

This article is for information only and is not legal advice. Dispute deadlines and grounds are set by the payment systems' rules and your agreement with your bank, and may differ from the general guidance here. If the amount is significant and both the seller and the bank refuse, talk to a lawyer or contact Ukraine's free legal aid system.